Q&A &A &A &....

We have all those TV channels so you'd think that would mean more stuff to watch.  Not when they put the same show on multiple channels!  What is this about? 

The ABC is one of the prime offenders.  Take Q&A - and I really wish someone would take it - Monday night and on it comes, so I flick over to the 24 hour news channel and it's also being shown there.  So I decide to listen to the radio instead.  What do you know?  They're playing it on the radio as well!  Why do they think this show is so good that it has to be broadcast simultaneously on 3 channels across 2 mediums?  And that doesn't even include the lunchtime repeats of the show.  Someone needs to tell them that the show just isn't that good.  Watching politicians trot out their party line in front of a sycophantic audience isn't that interesting.  I really don't mind if I miss it.  In fact, I go to great lengths to avoid it. 

At least on the radio you don't have to sit through the tweets?  Why do they show these?  Do they think it's "cool" or something?  As little interest as I have in what they say, I think it's disrespectful to the guests.  It's also distracting.  You have a bunch of supposed experts taking questions and then you stream drivel from anonymous tweeters over the top of their answers.  I care even less about what they have to say.  Surely, the least ABC could do is enable you to switch off the tweets by using one of those coloured buttons on the remote, or, you know, because it is being shown on two channels at once, at least offer a twitter-free version on one of the channels.  That would at least show some sophistication in applying the technology but I'd still rather they showed something completely different on the other channel? 

How about some long lost cartoon?  Top Cat?  The Twins of Destiny? Sir Prancealot?  Anything, really. 

Preaching to the Converted

Why is it that when I am watching a DVD/Blu-Ray, I have to sit through a lengthy advertisement telling me why I should I buy the DVD.  I've done that - that's how I'm now watching this stupid advertisement. 

It annoys me so much that I might start exploring other options.  That piracy one they mention looks interesting...

The Biggest Loser

England losing to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets with 10 overs to go was a pretty dismal effort, the symmetry of the scoreline only serving to magnify the scale of the thrashing.  Not one wicket taken.  You really shouldn't be getting clobbered like that in the knock-out phase of the World Cup. 

As bad as that was though, England weren't the biggest losers of the evening.  Not even close.  For at the same time, we also had the State Election results in NSW.  Such was the one-sided nature of this contest that the words "bloodbath" and "slaughter" were being used to describe the result.  And that was in the opening remarks to the coverage - before there were any results to report on.  I've never seen an election where there was so much certainty before they started counting.  And so it turned out.  According to Luke Foley, who had the unenviable task of being the Labor spokesman for the coverage, it was their worst performance since the 19th Century.  Now that's some defeat.

Live Long And Prosper

It's William Shatner's 80th birthday today.  The records say he was born in March 22, 1931 in Canada.

We were only discussing him in the office the other day and someone pointed out that he didn't look 80.  While there were some murmurs about plastic surgery, I put it down to his ageing more slowly than everyone else as happens with high warp-speed travel.

ICC Nothing At All

The opening ceremony to the ICC World Cup was held last night in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Perfect! It's over and I managed to miss all the dancing. Now let's sit down and watch some sport. Oh, there's nothing on! That's right, no cricket. At all.

I've already discussed the uselessness of opening ceremonies but you've got to hand it to the ICC to take them to a new level of pointlessness.

Only cricket would start a tournament with a rest day...

Close The Openings

I heard today that 4.5 billion people watched the Olympic opening ceremony. That's a lot of people. I wasn't one of them. I just don't get the whole point of having hours of people dancing and singing before a sports event.

Accepting however, that there is clearly a huge audience of people not like me, I don't see why they don't save a lot of money by dropping the sport event altogether and just holding the opening ceremony. You wouldn't have to build new stadiums or an athletes village. You wouldn't need the athletes. You also wouldn't have to wait every four years. Conversely, and most importantly, having had all these cermonies through the year, when we did actually get round to having a sporting event, you then wouldn't need an opening ceremony to accompany it. That way, when the next Olympics comes around, I could just sit down on the first evening and watch some sport!

Cold Case

How is it that all the witnesses on Cold Case can remember what song was playing at the time?

The Little Guys

Tony Curtis and Norman Wisdom are both with us no more. The world's just lost 2 of its greatest little guys. While both were big stars in their day, it was through their characters that I remember them.

When we were kids, Tony Curtis was Danny Wilde in The Persuaders alongside Roger Moore's Lord Brett Sinclair. In what has to be one of the greatest opening credits ever made on TV with a great John Barry theme, Tony Curtis's character, Danny Wilde, was shown as the street fighter who had to battle his way all through life in stark contrast to his lofty offsider.

Norman Wisdom was from an even earlier era and while we certainly didn't understand any of the social satire, as kids you couldn't help but identify with the beleaguered Pitkin as he struggled his way against the odds with nothing but his good intentions to get him through.

In a world where stardom and fame are everything and yet which still feels all the more fleeting for it, the characters played by Tony Curtis and Norman Wisdom leave us with a sense of longing for a time that seemed more innocent and genuine. It's illusory of course but then that's what actors do. May they both rest in peace.